


I'm Sorry I Didn't Die?

by mielipieli



Series: Forever evil angst [5]
Category: Batman (Comics), Forever Evil (Comics)
Genre: Gen, i know the series is called forever evil angst but this ain't that angsty, sorry but dami is dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 23:52:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14176074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mielipieli/pseuds/mielipieli
Summary: Bruce isn't an asshole and accepts it when Dick says he won't go undercover.





	I'm Sorry I Didn't Die?

“I need you to stay dead”, Bruce said standing in front of the infirmary bed Dick was sitting on. He was doing a check up before letting Dick out of bed. 

 

“No”, Dick answered. It wasn’t emotional or anything. Just a simple and clear statement. 

 

“Listen to me before you decide”, Bruce continued and carefully removed the bandage around Dick’s ribs. “There is an organization. Spyral. They are looking for secret identities. They are looking to hunt down superheroes. Everyone is going to be in danger. You’re in the perfect position for an infiltration.”

 

“The answer is still no. I won’t do that. Not to my friends and not to the family.”

 

“You will be in danger if you make it publicly known you’re still alive.”

 

“I’ll survive.”

 

Bruce sighed: “Fine.”

 

“Wait… you’re not going to push?”, Dick sounded incredulous. 

 

“No, it’s your decision. You’re old enough to make your own decisions.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Later that night after Bruce had helped Dick up the stairs - his right leg was broken - and into his room, he could hear Alfred yelling at Bruce. He couldn’t make out the words but he knew Alfred was angry at him for keeping Dick’s survival a secret. Dick took out his phone and opened Whatsapp. There were a lot of new messages. Dick clicked on the most recent chat.

 

Jason: Dick?

Jason: Please tell me you’re alright

Jason: If you’re dead, I swear to god I will take your body and throw you into the Lazarus pit myself

Jason: Fuck

Jason: If you’re not dead, I will kill you myself

Jason: Fuck, Dick

Jason: Roy’s not alright

Jason: I don’t know what to do

Jason: Great, I’m texting a dead guy

 

Dick let himself fall back onto the pillows. He gasped. His goddamn ribs. He should really be more careful. Never mind. He sat back up again and looked at his phone. T… Todd. There. The phone rang for about two seconds. 

 

“I swear to god if this is a prank, I will skin you alive”, Roy said venomously. 

 

“Hey, Roy.”

 

The line went silent for a while. Then there were quiet sobs. Dick heard Jason’s voice calling out in the background but couldn’t understand what was being said. Then the sobbing was gone. 

 

“Who is this?”, Jason said harshly. “You just made my friend cry.” There was most definitely a threat in there. 

 

“Jason, it’s me.”

 

There was a deep breath on the other end of the line: “Dick. I give you one minute to explain.”

 

“After the broadcast ended, Luthor gave me an adrenaline injection. B took me home but I passed out immediately. I woke up today and Bruce wanted to make sure I was actually alright before he let me out of bed.”

 

“Is there a reason he didn’t tell anyone that you’re not actually dead?”, the anger in Jason’s voice was thinly veiled. 

 

“I don’t really know”, Dick lied, “I think he was scared.”

 

Dick could practically hear the eye roll: “Anyway. I’m putting you on speaker.” There was some noise on the other end. 

 

“You’re alright?”, Roy seemed to have collected himself again.

 

“Well, my ribs are a mess, my neck hates me and my entire body is sore. Also my leg is broken. But sure let’s go with alright.”

 

Roy laughed: “I think that counts.”

 

There was a warm silence for a moment before Dick spoke again: “I think I should probably at least text some more people.”

 

“Hey, Tim! I’m alive!”, Jason imitated Dick’s voice and Roy ended up giggling like a maniac. 

 

“Bye, assholes!”

 

“Bye, Dickface!”

 

Dick smiled for a moment. At least Jay and Roy were both alright and only mildly irritated. He would probably be yelled at by Jason in a few days but for now everything should be okay. 

 

Dick went back to scrolling through his messages. 

 

Tim: Dick, are you alright?

Tim: We kind of got thrown forward in time. Just got back.

Tim: Please text me when you have time. 

 

Dick looked at the time stamp. That had only been two hours ago. Hopefully Tim hadn’t had a lot of time to even open his browser. 

 

Dick: Hey! Yeah, I’m okay. I have a few minor injuries but nothing to worry about. Love you!

 

The next chat was the Titans group chat (encrypted by Cyborg). There were over 100 messages there and Dick couldn’t bring himself to read any of them. 

 

Dick: I’m alright. I’m truly sorry for making you think I was dead. 

 

That was probably not the best message he could have written but how do you tell someone that you’re not dead? They would also all yell at him very soon. He suddenly got the feeling he would spend the next few weeks getting yelled at. 

 

Dick opened the Batfam chat (encrypted by Babs). There were no messages there. That was probably not a good sign for any mental states. They all tended to retreat into themselves when they were struggling with something. 

 

Dick: I’m okay. Slapping and yelling can be done whenever I see you next. 

 

He was just about to exit the chat when a reply popped up.

 

Babs: Are you fucking kidding me?

Babs: You let me believe you were dead for THREE WHOLE DAYS?

 

Bruce: It was my fault. Dick was unconscious for most of the time. I wanted to make sure he was actually alright. 

 

Tim: Wtf happened when I was gone

Tim: How do you not mention everyone believing you were dead when you text me that you’re alright

Tim: I don’t think that classifies as you’re alright

 

Steph: Where were you?

Steph: @Bruce I’m pissed at you but I really wanna know where Tim was that he didn’t hear about this

 

Tim: somewhere in the future

 

Cass: glad you alive :)

 

Dick: thanks <3

 

Jason: @Tim fucking hilarious

 

A message popped up on the top of the screen. 

 

Jason: Roy hasn’t stopped smiling since your call

Jason: Thanks for calling instead of just texting

Jason: I didn’t know what to do

 

Dick: It was kind of my fault in the first place. Thank you for taking care of him

 

Dick had ignored a few other notifications while reading Jason’s messages. He quickly looked through the Batfam chat.

 

Steph: it is

 

Tim: I don’t know how to deal with this family

 

Steph: don’t worry no one does

 

Bruce: If that is alright with you, Dick, I will hold a press conference tomorrow announcing that the rumours of your death have been greatly exaggerated. If you’re up for it, your presence would be appreciated.

 

Tim: …

 

Tim: 1 did you just consider someone else’s feelings

 

Steph: 2 did you just make a joke

 

Tim: 3 wtf happened when I was gone

 

Jason: Damn, Dick should always nearly die

 

Dick: Yeah, he was weirdly nice when I woke up, too. But I mean usually when I nearly die, he just yells at me.

 

Babs: i don’t think you ever nearly died as hard as you did this time. 

 

Dick: true

Dick: Sure, Bruce. Sounds great. I think it’s a good idea for me to come with you and get out of the house for once. 

 

Bruce: For the next while I believe it would be a good idea if you had someone else with you whenever you’re outside the house. There will most likely be a lot of attacks and assassination attempts. So take someone with you. At least until you’re back to your full strength. 

 

Steph: This is freaking me out.

 

Dick: Oh, I know what’s going on. Alfred was yelling at him earlier so now he’s trying extra hard. 

 

Jason: Damn, I would have liked to be there for that.

 

Dick: Nah it’s hella scary

 

Cass: I can come tomorrow

 

Steph: Oh, me too

Steph: We can get a coffee after the press conference

 

Dick: That sounds great. I would love to spend time with my favorite sisters

 

Bruce: you will be using crutches

 

Tim: thank god, he’s back to normal

 

Babs: Come by my flat later tomorrow so I know you’re not faking it

 

Jason: Faking being alive

 

Steph: I think she wants an opportunity to yell at him and then hug him

 

Jason: aaah

 

Dick: sure

Dick: that sounds like a good plan

Dick: B are you going to tell any of your friends and teammates I’m alive or are you just going to let them know through the press conference

 

Bruce: …

 

Dick: at least make sure it’s not me who gets the angry call

 

Bruce: I am writing an email right now. 

 

The chat went quiet after that. However, Dick saw a few pop up notifications from the Batkids chat that were just laughing emojis.

 

Dick looked through a few other chats. There were a few messages from before he had even been captured. He decided to ignore those for now. Instead he focused on the ones that weren’t. There were a few of his friends and other family members asking whether he was alright. 

 

A few unknown numbers thanking him for something he’d done as Nightwing, a few others insulting him and a few death threats. Dick rolled his eyes at those. He’d ask Babs to track the numbers tomorrow and look for any signs of actual danger. Then there were friends who didn’t know his secret identity telling him they either understood why he didn’t or saying they couldn’t believe how he hadn’t told them.

 

Dick looked back to the top of his chats. There were a few new messages in the Titans chat. 

 

Donna: I’m glad you’re not dead

Donna: I would still like to know why you didn’t tell us about this earlier.

 

Garth: Yeah, douche move

 

Wally: Don’t you mean dick move?

 

Garth: do you really think this is the right moment 

Garth: righteous anger here

 

Roy: It’s always the right time for jokes about dick’s name

 

Wally: exactly when if not now

 

Lilith: back to the question…

 

Garth: yeah, dick, have you died again?

 

Roy: too soon

Roy: you would get along great with jay

 

Dick: i was kind of unconscious most of the time

Dick: on bed rest until a few hours ago

Dick: and they would get along great

 

Wally: and the rest of that reason would be Bruce being Bruce?

 

Roy: that’s what he said to Jay earlier

Roy: i feel like he kind of lied about why Bruce kept it a secret tho

Roy: after we hung up jay was rolling his eyes for ten whole minutes and just said “bruce” so…

 

Donna: wait why do they get a call and we don’t

 

Garth: because he loves them more

 

Lilith: because family is important to dick and he wanted to make sure jason was alright

 

Wally: wow that is you in a nutshell

 

Dick: do you guys have time the day after tomorrow

Dick: we could go to some nameless diner and catch up

Dick: it was so cute Jay threatened me because Roy was upset

 

Donna: that sounds great

 

Wally: yeah, we haven’t done that since forever

Wally: usually people don’t like to be threatened

 

Lilith: sure

 

Roy: yeah

 

Garth: what time

 

Dick: lunch? so around twelve?

Dick: also could someone maybe pick me up at the manor? i kind of have a broken leg and b thinks someone might try to assassinate me

 

Roy: …

 

Wally: …

 

Garth: that should be the first thing on your list

 

Dick: well i don’t want to brag but i have been target of assassinations before

 

Roy: i love that i don’t know whether you’re being serious or sarcastic

 

Wally: if he was being serious he’d have left out the i don’t want to brag

 

Roy: damn you’re right

 

Donna: i can pick you up

Donna: diner in gotham? roy and you are both there and the rest of us can get places more quickly

 

Roy: oh yeah Jay showed me a good diner the other day

 

Dick: the one in bach street?

Dick: that would be great donna!

 

Roy: exactly! the fish sticks are amazing!

 

Garth: i don’t know whether to be offended

 

Roy: i was actually not trying to insult you this time. they’re just seriously amazing

 

Garth: ok good

 

Donna: so i’ll pick you up at half past 11 the day after tomorrow?

 

Dick: :) <3

 

Lilith: tell us if you’re being assassinated

 

Dick: I will

* * *

The next morning Dick woke up at 8 am pretty well rested. He thought about trying to go down to the kitchen by just jumping on one leg but luckily spotted the crutches someone - Alfred - had apparently brought into his room at some point. He quickly washed his face, brushed his teeth and put on some fresh clothes before walking downstairs.

 

Bruce, Steph and Cass were already eating breakfast and Alfred was still cleaning a pan in the kitchen.

 

“Good morning”, Bruce grumbled into his coffee.

 

Steph, who had been absorbed by her pancake, jumped up and ran at Dick for a hug. She slowed down just before and hugged him very gently, which his ribs were very glad for. Dick let out a laugh. 

 

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

 

Cass shot him a smile and bit into her cherry jam bread. For some reason she really loved cherry jam and no one quite knew why.

 

“Sleep good?”, she asked between bites.

 

“Surprisingly yes”, Dick settled down on a chair next to Bruce and across from the girls. “I took some Ibuprofen just before bed and it always knocks me out completely.”

 

“You’re still feeling up to the press conference?”, Bruce asked.

 

“Sure. When is it?” Alfred placed a cup of coffee in front of Dick. “Thank you, Alfred.”

 

“At 11. We’ll go at 10. That should give us enough time to be there before most of the reporters.”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

The rest of the breakfast was mostly silent. After about five minutes Alfred sat down at the end of the table with a cup of tea and a news paper. Dick really enjoyed the occasional jokes from the girls. They always were great to be around.

* * *

Dick wasn’t nervous until they were standing behind the stage. Steph and Cass had decided to sit in the back of the audience so it was only Bruce, Dick, Lucius Fox and a few WE employes.

 

“I’m glad you’re not dead”, Lucius said with a mix of a smile and a frown. 

 

“Thanks”, Dick said and it really wasn’t supposed to be sarcastic even though it sounded like it.

 

“Alright, chum. Are you ready?”, Bruce asked. 

 

Dick took a deep breath: “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

 

Bruce laid a hand on his shoulder for a moment before walking over to the door. When it was clear that Dick had no trouble following, Bruce shot him a smile and walked through the door and to the podium. When Dick followed a few seconds later, there was a dramatic gasp. 

 

Dick resisted the urge to laugh and instead sat down on the chair that had been placed on the podium for him. He took a look at the reporters. Clark was sitting in the first row and shot him a wink. He must have persuaded Perry the evening before (after the email from Bruce) to send him to the press conference. 

 

Then Bruce began speaking: “Thank you all for attending this press conference on such short notice. The reason for it should be quite obvious at this point but I will name it anyway. Luckily, my son Richard Grayson did not die during the events four days ago. Due to recent events there was a concern for his safety and I wanted to make sure he was out of the woods before making this particular announcement. We are open to questions now but I hope that you can understand that we might not answer all of them. My family and of course everyone else in the world is still reeling from the events this past week. Thank you.”

 

Bruce turned to Dick and handed him a microphone. Then he turned back to the audience:

 

“Ms Vale?” 

 

An employee with a microphone sprinted through the room to hand Vicki Vale the microphone. 

 

“What consequences are you expecting from being outed as Nightwing?”

 

Bruce shot him a look saying: ‘I can take this one if you want me to.’ but Dick raised his microphone from his lap.

 

“Well, my policy is hoping for the best and expecting the worst. As Bruce already said, there is a concern for my safety as I have made a lot of enemies over the years. I will be working on ensuring that the people around me and I myself are not in any danger because of that.”

 

Vicki Vale nodded. 

 

Bruce leaned towards his microphone: “Mr Kent?”

 

“Even though you probably are in dangerous situations a lot, these past few days must have come as a shock to you, your friends and family.” Dick barely suppressed a grin at Clark definitely calling out Bruce. “Did it change your perspective in any ways?”

 

“Well, I think I’ll try to spend as much time as possible with everyone I hold dear. My family members especially have lost a lot in the past. I am glad there doesn’t have to be another grave.” Dick swallowed as a picture of Damian’s grave popped into his mind. God, he missed him so much. “I definitely will have enough time since I won’t be able to do much with a broken leg.”

 

Bruce looked at him. He had definitely noticed that Dick was getting a bit overwhelmed. 

 

“Thank you all again for coming. I will have to cut us off now, though. I wish you all a good day.”

 

The moment Bruce stopped talking, a lot of whispering started, and Bruce walked over to Dick to help him get up and get out of the room. Steph, Cass and Clark were already waiting for them.

 

“Hello, Clark”, Dick said and gave Clark a hug that was made slightly awkward by the crutches. 

 

“Hello, Dick. Are you doing okay?”, Clark asked and pulled away to properly look him over. 

 

“I’ll be fine”, Dick said.

 

Clark smiled: “Of course you will.”

 

Bruce looked down at his watch: “Damn it. I have to get going. I’ll see you later, Dick. Don’t do anything dangerous.”

 

“What do you think I’ll do?”

 

Bruce sighed exasperatedly. Then he raised his eyebrows: “Just… be careful. Have a nice day everyone.”

 

Bruce turned around and walked to the elevator. 

 

“I should go, too. Jimmy is probably wondering where I am and we do have to catch a plane. See you soon!”

* * *

The time Dick spent with Cass and Steph that day was wonderful and relaxed. They went to a small coffee shop Steph knew through Tim. Then when they had just exited that, they decided they were hungry and got some pizza. Steph and Cass didn’t mention anything involving the Crime Syndicate and Dick didn’t either.

 

After the pizza they went to Babs’ place. She opened the door and rolled back a bit. Dick hugged her. Babs pulled him closer to her and Dick suppressed a gasp. She needed this. He could tell that she hadn’t quite trusted that Dick was alive. 

 

“I’m okay”, he whispered and when Babs gave him a little squeeze he couldn’t hold back the gasp.

 

“Oh god, I’m sorry”, she said and quickly let loose. 

 

“It’s okay. Just my ribs. I don’t need those anyway.”

 

Cass giggled and ignored the look Babs shot her, which only made Steph crack up, too. 

 

“You two can go make some coffee while we are being serious.”

 

Steph and Cass ducked into the kitchen without another word. 

 

Babs gave Dick a once over: “How are you feeling?”

 

“Well, bruised ribs and broken leg aside, I only got a few scratches and minor cuts.”

 

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

 

Dick sighed: “I know. I haven’t really had sleep yet that didn’t involve some type of being drugged. It probably won’t be pleasant. So far I’ve managed alright but it might look differently once things calm down.”

 

Babs nodded: “Call me if you need anything. Shall we check on the girls?”

 

“Actually, there’s one more thing. I got some messages both before everyone thought I had died and after the press conference today.” How he had managed to hide those from Cass and Steph’s watchful eyes he would never understand.

 

“Threats?”

 

Dick nodded.

 

“And you haven’t shown them to Bruce.”

 

Dick’s facial expression must have said enough because Babs rolled her eyes. 

 

“Ok. Give me your phone. I’m cloning it. I’ll catalogue the threats and tell you if there’s any real danger.”

 

“Thank you”, Dick said and handed over his phone.

 

“I’m going to tell Bruce about this.” 

 

“I didn’t expect anything else.” Dick grinned and pressed a kiss to Babs’ forhead. She huffed in response. 

* * *

The next few days were relatively uneventful. Dick noticed a couple of people looking at him differently than they would have before and some others following him. None of them seemed particularly concerning, though. Especially because he spent the next day with Donna, the one after that with Wally and the one after that with Roy and Jason. To summarize: He was always with some pretty damn capable superheroes.

 

The lunch with the Titans was incredibly enjoyable. It ended up turning into a lunch and a movie and then a lunch, a movie and spending the rest of the day in the diner. There was a moment at one point when Dick was sure some guy would come over and insult him but ended up just saying: “Thank you for saving my daughter, kid.”

 

Dick didn’t really feel like the term ‘kid’ applied to him anymore but it kind of felt good to know he had made a difference in someone’s life. He still didn’t know what to say to the guy and was glad when it became clear he wasn’t expecting any answer but instead just turned around and went back to his two buddies. 

 

That evening Dick finally got around to reading the threat evaluation Babs had done. She had actually sent them at 3 am when Dick had already been asleep but he had spent the morning with Tim and then the rest of the day with the Titans. None of them were people he wanted to worry about him - he didn’t really want anyone to worry about him but he usually tried to avoid anyone not waaaay older than him. 

 

They tried to evaluate threats on a scale of one to five with one being harmless and five being likely to kill you within the next few hours. One usually meant just ignore completely, two normal security and awareness is enough, three be careful, four take serious precautions and five DO NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE JUST FIND A BUNKER. 

 

Most of the threats fell into category one and none in category five. That was a good start. There were two threats in category four - a Gotham gang Dick had mostly dismantled two years ago, which was slowly regenerating and a burner phone (this one had been a SMS). Babs had sorted about 10 more into categories two and three but that didn’t take any priority. 

 

The message underneath the list was: “I’ve sent the 4s to Bruce as well.”

 

That probably explained why Bruce had been so frowny and broody when Dick had returned. 

* * *

Dick spent the next day with Wally. Bruce didn’t mention the threats at breakfast but when Dick mentioned that Wally was coming by and they were going to hang out together, he looked relieved. Being around superpowered people just made every situation safer - well, most situations. When Wally picked Dick up an hour later, Bruce looked at him grumpily.

 

“Don’t do anything dangerous”, he said.

 

Dick laughed: “Bruce, I have a broken leg. I won’t jump off any buildings.”

 

“Don’t let anyone assassinate you.”

 

“I’ll try, thanks for the suggestion.”

 

Bruce’s eyes flinched slightly at the sarcastic answer.

* * *

Dick was going to the cinema with Tim. They hadn’t done anything together in ages and Tim seemed to be enjoying himself already. His face radiated excitement. Dick’s little brother was a nerd. A tiny nerd who could beat up his Kryptonian friend if he really wanted to. Dick was so freaking proud of him.

 

Tim also knew every shortcut. Well, he had actually been living in Gotham the last few years. Tim led them away from all crowded streets and through an alley with tiny restaurants on both sides, 4 or 5 tables each. Dick hadn’t known about these.

 

“That’s Walter. He’s German and he makes amazing Flammkuchen”, Tim pointed at one of the restaurants with a sign saying ‘Gemütlichkeit’. Then he pointed at another: “That’s Bob. Great diner type food but five times better than anything you’d get anywhere else. That’s Stella. Her pasta makes me want to die. Richard. Best curry you’ll ever get in Gotham. Hanna. She only makes one menu each day but whatever she makes will be absolutely perfect. Never had the same thing twice.”

 

Dick’s mouth stood open: “How did you find this place?”

 

“Jason”, Tim said like he didn’t believe it himself. “I was having a bad day so he took me to get good food. I swear he thinks food fixes everything.”

 

“Doesn’t it?” Dick looked around. “Do you go here often?”

 

“Whenever I have time during lunch or I’m having a bad day.” Tim looked at his watch. “Oh, shit. We should hurry.”

* * *

They didn’t get to the cinema. They were attacked from both sides in a tiny alley. Advantage: Only enough space for one of them to attack from each side. Disadvantage: No way to escape.

 

Dick hit one guy between his legs with his crutches. The guy dropped down and Dick realized it might have been a bad idea. He’d basically blocked off everything behind the thug from himself because there was no way he’d be able to jump over him and then also not get knocked out by one of the others. Dick backed away a bit and allowed himself to look over his shoulder. 

 

Tim was doing alright. He’d taken Karate for years, had a black belt actually, so he was allowed to be able to fight in public. Still, less than ideal conditions. Tim would be paying attention to Dick with half his mind, making sure everything was okay because Dick was injured.

 

Dick barely ducked underneath the punch the next thug threw at him. He was used to being able to move, to actually jump out of the way of danger. He hated fighting like this. Then the guy kicked at Dick’s good leg and he tried to shift his weight away but there wasn’t anywhere to shift his weight to. He was still holding his crutches to use them as weapons and his broken leg was refusing to carry him. Dick’s head collided with the wall as he went down and Tim whirled around at the sound. 

 

“Watch out!”, Dick cried because that was a fist flying towards Tim’s head but it was too late and Tim collapsed on top of him.

 

Dick’s hands were trapped at his sides as a needle was pushed into his neck.

* * *

The video was from a news station. A group of reporters tried to get something out of Superman and Wonder Woman as they walked into a hospital.

 

“Wonder Woman, do you wish to comment on the kidnapping of Richard Grayson, also known as Nightwing?”

 

Wonder Woman turned around and stared at the blonde woman. Superman seemed torn between holding her back and standing down: “Yes, I do. I believe there is something a few people have not understood. Richard Grayson is one of us. I have known him since he was nine years old. He is one of my sister’s closest friends and you will not find someone in our community who does not have something good to say about him. I would gladly follow him into battle.

 

“Now, someone tried to hurt him today. Someone thought they could get away with it. They were wrong. Because we take care of our own and Richard Grayson is most definitely one of our own. He, his family and his friends are protected. Let that be known.”

 

The reporter forgot how to speak for a moment and simply stared at the camera.


End file.
